Meet Laura Larsen (’12)

Posted by Amanda Bagley Lewis (BA ’09), Editorial Intern

Hometown and High School: American Fork, Utah; American Fork High School

Applied To: BYU

Major Plans: Either family, home, and consumer sciences (FHCS) or nutrition/dietetics

Interests and achievements: Section leader in the competitive marching band (even performed in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade) and in the wind symphony, where she played the flute and piccolo; American Fork High Sterling Scholar for FHCS; participated in a state Iron Chef–type cooking competition for high school students; senior class president; poetry club secretary; high honor roll student; outdoor enthusiast.

Plans to Bring to Provo: A lucky pencil for test taking and onesie footed pajamas, pink with a pattern of crowned cats—“absolutely hideous,” she says.

Generations of Cougars: Both sets of Laura Larsen’s grandparents met while attending BYU. Their courtships were just two of many BYU stories Laura and her siblings heard growing up, stories that played a major role in Laura’s determination to become a Cougar. Her mom’s fond memories of BYU and continued correspondence with former roommates; weekend stays with her older sister, Lisa (BS ’09), at Heritage Halls; and a myriad of BYU games, activities, and performances helped seal the deal in Laura’s mind.

“Ever since I can remember, I’ve always wanted to come to BYU,” says Larsen. “I like the environment at BYU—how you’re surrounded by people with the same values as you.”

Going to Work: Laura had heard it was hard to get in to BYU, so she went to work. “I tried to prepare myself by taking hard classes and doing well in all of them,” she says.

It’s not hard to imagine level-headed Laura hunched over her books. But her high school days were filled with more than tough classes; between homework and tests, she kept herself busy with band and FHCS activities. She competed in cooking competitions and made a wool coat for a sewing competition. She was also senior class president. “When you’re senior class president,” she says, “you have that responsibility to get to know people,” a talent she feels will come in handy in a sea of new faces at BYU.

Once she received her acceptance to BYU, Laura turned her focus to being financially prepared. The day after graduation she started working at a catering service. “Work is never a party, but this was hard,” she says. Over the summer, she used her earnings to gather supplies, clothes, and house wares. “Life is expensive—I learned that,” Laura says.

“When I was buying stuff, I was thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, I just spent 10 hours working for this one little thing!’ I think the biggest shock for me was just how fast my money went—all that work.”

Despite the long hours, Laura was happy to be working toward her goal of attending BYU. As the summer wore on, she came up with a new list of objectives. “You set so many goals to get to BYU,” she says. “Once I [was] accepted, I made a list of what I wanted to do before I graduated [from BYU] and what I wanted to do each year. Before I know it I’m going to be graduated, so I’ve just got to take advantage of the opportunities.”